


Askew

by FloralBucky



Category: Daredevil (TV), Marvel
Genre: Bad Days, But no mention of it or any traumatic events, Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, M/M, Matt Murdock Needs a Hug, Multi, Polyamory, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, hints of - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-31
Updated: 2018-05-31
Packaged: 2019-05-16 07:45:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14807190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FloralBucky/pseuds/FloralBucky
Summary: "Usually, when Matt felt like this, when he woke up and his brain felt tilted slightly on its axis, like something had turned his innards a few degrees east of where they should be, he stayed home."





	Askew

Foggy was on a business trip, and that made everything worse. 

Usually, when Matt felt like this, when he woke up and his brain felt tilted slightly on its axis, like something had turned his innards a few degrees east of where they should be, he stayed home. It had taken a long time for Matt and Foggy to reach that agreement. Matt tended to go to work no matter what was happening. He had once come into the office sweating through his jacket with a 105-degree fever, and when Foggy and Karen tried to tell him to go to the hospital, he’d brushed them off and insisted he was fine. It had taken him all but passing out in front of the bathroom for them to convince him he was being ridiculous. 

So, yes, it had been difficult for Foggy to convince Matt to stay home when he felt bad, and even more difficult for Matt to push away his guilt at not being able to do his job. But today Foggy was on a day trip upstate to meet with one of their clients who had broken her back in a factory accident and wasn’t able to make the drive to their office, and he wasn’t answering his phone because he was probably driving, and Matt felt like he was spinning. 

If the day started out like this, it was only going to get worse, but Matt didn’t really have a choice. He couldn’t leave the office unattended, and he had clients relying on him, and even if Karen was there it wouldn’t be fair to make her take on both his and Foggy’s responsibilities. So he pulled himself out of bed, got dressed, and took a cab. Usually, he would take the subway, but the thought of that much interaction with other people made his stomach turn unpleasantly, so he settled for the slightly pungent odor of the leather seats and the cabbie’s floral hair gel, and the sickening stop and start of New York rush hour traffic.

When Matt got to the office, he was surprised to find the front door locked. Usually Karen was there before him, sitting at the front desk with a brilliant smile. After unearthing his key from his bag and making his way inside, Matt dropped his things on his desk and started checking his voicemail. Potential client requesting an appointment. Client asking to change the time of their meeting. Message from their office neighbor complaining about the length of their business hours. Voicemail from Karen. Matt frowned and pressed play. 

_ Hi Matt! _ Karen’s voice was already apologetic.  _ I’m so sorry to do this to you, but Foggy needed me at the last minute on the trip today. Something about taking detailed notes or recording something or other. I hope today isn’t too busy and that being in the office by yourself isn’t an issue. Please call me if you need anything. We should be back in time for dinner. Love you!  _ The machine beeped, signaling the end of the message. 

Matt blinked. This was fine. He didn’t need Karen at the office today. It would have been nice to be in her calming presence and to be able to smell her soothing shampoo, and to press his face against her warm chest to ground him, but he would be fine. Matt smoothed his hands down the front of his slacks and got to work. 

 

The weight of the day pressed hotly against the back of Matt’s neck, dropping his head and shoulders further into this chest with each passing hour. There was nothing particularly horrible about it, other than the fact that it was slightly more difficult navigating things without Foggy and Karen there, but he could manage. He dutifully hosted all the clients who had meetings scheduled for that day, did some research, wrote some reports, reviewed some cases, and took notes for Foggy and Karen to help them catch up. By lunch, he was struggling, and by the time he finished his last appointment, Matt was buzzing out of his skin. Everything was too loud and fast and confusing, and he just wanted to lie under his desk in the dark and ignore his responsibilities. But he still had a city to protect, and other people to help, so Matt took a cab home. 

Claire was standing on the other side of the door when Matt opened it. 

The entire commute Matt had been psyching himself up to go out on patrol, convincing himself that he was fine, and that protecting people who were helpless was more important than his mood, or the fact that his head was so fuzzy he could hardly distinguish the inside of the car from the outside. But the second he saw Claire, the moment he smelled her spiced vanilla lotion and felt her warm presence, all that flew out the window. 

Matt’s bag dropped to the ground at his feet as his arms went limp. All the strength seemed to bleed from his body, and he tipped forward, stumbling over the small table next to the door. He tensed, expecting himself to crash headfirst onto the floor, but then Claire was catching him, and her strong hands were pulling him into her chest, and he couldn’t breathe. 

“Hey,” Claire soothed. “Hey, Matthew. You’re okay. I’ve got you. I’ve got you.” She pulled him awkwardly across the room, passing the couch and heading straight for his bedroom. When he felt his calves bumping against his bed, he let himself fall onto the mattress, dragging Claire down next to him. Now that she was here, and touching him, he couldn’t make himself let her go. His fingers pressed into the soft skin of her hip and traced the lines there, and he breathed her in deeply, cheek tucked into the crook of her neck. 

“I have you, Matt. I’ve got you,” she kept repeating, stroking his hair. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he could tell that this wasn’t very comfortable for her, but he physically couldn’t move away. They stayed like that for several long minutes, breathing in each other’s energy, before Matt loosened his grip. He still sat flushed against Claire, his body touching hers from knee to shoulder, and she was still supported his weight, but he was no longer wrapped around her so tightly that her skin turned white where his nails dug into her. 

Claire smoothed a hand over his head, then slipped his glasses off gently and placed them on the table next to the bed. She pressed her palm against his cheek.

“What’s going on, Matt? How are you doing?” She stroked her thumb over his skin as she spoke, and he leaned into her touch. “Bad day?” 

He nodded into her hand. They both knew it was an understatement, but he didn’t feel like elaborating, and she was not one to press. 

“Why are you here?” he asked quietly, his voice scratchy from disuse. 

“You called me today?” Claire answered, her voice tipping upwards in confusion. 

“I...what?” 

“You called me around the middle of the day today and told me that Foggy and Karen were out of the office and asked if I could please come over after work because you didn’t want to be alone.” Claire’s voice was definitely colored with concern now, and Matt shifted uncomfortably against her. 

“I guess I...I guess I forgot.” He frowned. How could he have forgotten an entire conversation with Claire? How could he have forgotten? 

“It’s okay,” Claire said quickly, sensing his impending spiral. “I don’t mind. You’re having a rough day, and that’s fine. I’m not offended.” She smiled, and he felt it in his chest. “I’m going to take care of you, okay?” She looked at him until he nodded in agreement, and then slowly started to stand. 

“Coffee or tea?” He considered tea, but falling asleep sounded like the worst possible option right now. 

“Coffee. Thank you.”

“Coming right up.”

Matt’s mind went carefully blank while Claire was gone, and the sounds of her banging around his kitchen faded into white noise. His hands were shaking, slightly, and he was strangely cold. Everything inside his chest felt like it was vibrating at its own frequency, and his eyes fluttered restlessly behind his closed eyelids. His body felt wrong, wrong, wrong, and he wished he could just shed his skin and float away into the sky and leave behind everything and everyone and just be free and - 

“Matt,” Claire was saying. Her hand was against his chest, and he could feel the frantic beating of his heart through her bones. “Breathe, Matt.” He breathed with her for a second, and accepted the warm mug of coffee she pushed into his hands. “Guess who’s home?”

It was only then that Matt noticed the other two pairs of footsteps in his room, one shifting and the other still. Someone moved towards him, but Matt’s head was so thick and cloudy that he was having trouble determining who. But then he smelled the aftershave, and he smiled a bit. 

“Hi,” Foggy breathed, kissing Matt on the forehead. “Claire told me about your day. I’m so sorry, Matty. If I knew, I wouldn’t have even gone on the trip. I would have rescheduled.” Matt shook his head but kept smiling all the same. Karen stepped up beside Foggy and pressed a small kiss to the corner of Matt’s lips. 

“Hey, Matt.” Her words were lilting, teasing, and he loved her for it.

“Hi, Karen,” he said back. 

They climbed on the bed, carefully pulling him back against the cushions as they did. Claire held his coffee until he was situated, then handed it back to him and curled into his left side. One of her arms wrapped around his stomach, the weight of it grounding, and the other tucked close against him. Foggy pressed up against his right, tickling Matt’s neck with a few chin hairs he missed while shaving this morning, and Karen practically lay down in his lap, resting her head on his thigh. Matt took a sip of his coffee and closed his eyes. He focused on his breaths, and let their affection wash over him, calming his nerves. 

“We love you, buddy,” Foggy mumbled into Matt’s neck, the words ghosting over his skin. Matt’s unbalanced emotional state was most definitely the only reason he got a bit teary. 

“I love you, too,” he whispered. 

They stayed like that for hours, bodies intertwined. Not speaking, not moving, just existing in the same space with each other. Matt was suddenly so glad for them, and for how much they just understood. He rested his head against the pillow behind him. He thought back to previous “bad days,” when he had been alone, and he had felt everything so much more, and it had all been so much worse. He shivered. Never did he think that he would have them and that they would change his life in the way they did. He took another sip of his coffee, careful not to jostle his dozing partners. He was content to sit there, awake but calm, and look at them, watching over them as they watched over him. Matt smiled and closed his eyes. 

**Author's Note:**

> I just felt some feelings about Matt and slammed out this plotless mess that I'm not even sure I like but I decided to post it anyway because why not. I hope someone out there enjoys it.


End file.
